Foreign Language Radio Frequencies to Be Jammed in Armenia

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia has acquired new expensive equipment and plans to create a mechanism in the spring for jamming foreign language radio frequencies across the territory of Armenia. This announcement was made by Tigran Hakobyan, the chairman of the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR), during a press conference.

In Armenia, especially in rural areas, frequencies broadcasting in Turkish often appear. The reason is that the transmission power of Turkish radio stations is significantly stronger.

According to Hakobyan, it is more effective to strengthen the signals of local radio stations. “This is a technical issue, and the Ministry has begun to combat it,” he stated. He also noted that jammers are not an efficient solution and are considerably more expensive.

Hakobyan explained that there has been some confusion because the frequencies originally allocated to Armenia by Switzerland (where the center is located, and every country has its own frequency spectrum) are far fewer than what is necessary based on the population size. “That is why we do not have additional frequencies, for example, to create a private multiplex or to open new radio stations,” he added.

Hakobyan emphasized that the Ministry will try to alleviate the issue, but a comprehensive solution is not achievable.